Systems and methods for capturing mail for electronic bill presentment

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

0001This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 10/416,346, filed on May 12, 2003, which is the U.S. National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/US02/10308, filed on Apr. 3, 2002, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/280,737, filed on Apr. 3, 2001, all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

0002The present invention deals with electronic bill presentment.

BACKGROUND

0003Currently, a customer receives bills from a biller through standard mail systems. Examples of billers include credit card companies, utilities, banks, and other entities for which a customer receives a service which requires billing. The customer receives a bill, usually monthly, from the biller and remits payment to the biller through the mail system. Each customer needs to spend a significant amount of time each month to respond to the various bills. The most common method of bill payment is to write paper checks for the appropriate amounts and mail such checks to the biller. This method is labor intensive and time consuming for the customer, and must be done on multiple occasions each month since the bills do not normally arrive or become due on the same date.

0004Electronic bill presentment is a process for providing a customer with a bill electronically. Electronic bill presentment permits a customer to view and pay their bills electronically, for example, over the Internet. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> illustrates a conventional electronic bill presentment system. In this system, a customer, located at terminal <b>110</b>, wishes to pay bills electronically. Terminal <b>110</b> may be, for example, a personal computer connected to network <b>120</b>. The customer registers with a biller located at biller terminal <b>130</b>. The registration may comprise, for example, transmitting, to the biller terminal, customer information such as customer name and account information. Once the biller terminal receives and verifies the customer information, the biller will transmit the customer's bill by the electronic bill presentment methods. For example, the biller may transmit the bill to the customer via email each month. This is achieved by transmitting the email from biller terminal <b>130</b> through network <b>120</b> to customer terminal <b>110</b>. Once the customer receives the email containing the bill, the customer may pay the bill by conventional mail or electronic means.

0005Some billers currently offer this service, but if a customer wants to have bills of different biller presented electronically, the customer must register with each biller separately. However, a customer may want to view and pay all of their bills in a single location, rather than registering with each biller. Additionally, not all billers presently have the ability to implement electronic bill presentation methodology. Further, even billers that implement electronic bill presentation often still send bills by mail in addition to electronically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

0006in accordance with the invention, there is provided a bill presentation method and system. The present invention involves several aspects which include a variety of different levels of biller interaction. One aspect is directed to a bill presentation method and system in which the customer is directly involved with the intermediary but requires no interaction with the biller. Another aspect is directed to a bill presentation in which the biller and the customer are directly involved with the intermediary.

0007Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

0008It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate aspects consistent with the present invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a diagram of a conventional electronic bill presentment system;

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a flow chart illustrating a bill presentment method according to a first aspect consistent with the present invention;

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 3 and 4</figref> are flow charts illustrating a bill presentment method according to variations in the first aspect consistent with the present invention;

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 5-8</figref> are examples of different types of facing identification marks according to certain aspects consistent with the present invention;

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref> is a flow chart illustrating a bill presentment method according to a second aspect consistent with the present invention;

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> is a diagram of a system for performing different aspects of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

0016Reference will now be made in detail to aspects consistent with the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

0017The present invention is directed to a bill presentation method and system which serves improve on conventional bill presentation systems and methods. The disclosed system works by a intermediary intercepting correspondence which is intended for customers. The intermediary may be a department of a mail service provider or a separate commercial entity. The intermediary determines if any of the correspondence consists of bills related to a certain customer, removes the bills from other correspondence, and flags the bills for electronic bill presentment. The disclosed system involves several aspects which include a variety of different levels of biller interaction. One aspect is directed to a bill presentation method and system in which the customer is directly involved with the intermediary but requires no interaction with the biller. Another aspect is directed to a bill presentation in which the biller and the customer are directly involved with the intermediary.

0018A first aspect is directed to a bill presentation method and system in which the customer is directly involved with the intermediary but requires no interaction with the biller. In this aspect, the customer would deal directly with the intermediary and would have no additional interaction with the biller.

0019<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a flow chart illustrating a method of capturing mail for electronic bill presentment according to the first aspect consistent with the present invention. The process begins by the customer submitting a registration form to the intermediary including customer identification information and biller information. The biller information may be in the form of sample mailpieces used by the biller to send the bills (step <b>210</b>). The customer identification information may contain standard information, such as customer name, customer address, customer personal information, email address, types of bills for electronic presentment, and method of electronic presentment. One skilled in the art would realize the form may contain other data used to identify and describe the customer. The form may be a standard paper form which may be forwarded to the intermediary by standard mail systems or the form may be an electronic form submitted to the intermediary by electronic means, such as electronic mail.

0020Next, the intermediary would enter that customer's information into a database maintained by the intermediary (step <b>220</b>). The database may be a standard database, such as a database stored on a computer. Next, the intermediary images the sample mailpiece for a particular biller which was provided by the customer and stores the imaged mailpiece in the database (step <b>230</b>).

0021Then, when a mailpiece is received by the intermediary, the intermediary processes the mailpiece and determines the delivery address of the mailpiece (step <b>240</b>). If that mailpiece is addressed to a customer which has information stored in the database, the intermediary performs form recognition or optical character recognition (OCR) of the mailpiece (step <b>250</b>). If the mailpiece is not addressed to a customer with information stored in the database, the mailpiece is processed normally (step <b>270</b>).

0022If the mailpiece is determined to match a biller's sample mailpiece stored in the database, the mailpiece is a bill designated by the customer for electronic bill presentation. Thus, that mailpiece is flagged for electronic bill presentment (step <b>260</b>). This may involve sorting the mailpiece into a special bin for expedited delivery to a bill presentment center or may involve redirecting the mailpiece to the normal bin that includes delivery to a bill presentment center. Then, the flagged mailpiece is delivered to the bill presentment center.

0023<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a flow chart illustrating the steps involved in a variation of the first aspect. In this case, the customer has already established service with the intermediary and is now changing addresses. The customer changes delivery address for specific mailpiece by submitting a change of address form to the intermediary and biller (step <b>310</b>). The biller would not necessarily know whether the customer has moved to this new location or not. All the biller knows is, instead of the customer receiving mail at one address, the customer receives it at another address. The intermediary updates the database by entering the customers change of address (step <b>320</b>).

0024The rest of the steps work the same as the method described in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>. That is, when a mailpiece is received by the intermediary, the intermediary processes the mailpiece and determines the delivery address of the mailpiece (step <b>330</b>). If that mailpiece is addressed to a customer which has information stored in the database, the intermediary performs form recognition or optical character recognition (OCR) of the mailpiece (step <b>340</b>). If the mailpiece is not addressed to a customer with information stored in the database, the mailpiece is processed normally (step <b>360</b>).

0025If the mailpiece is determined to match a biller's sample mailpiece stored in the database, the mailpiece is a bill designated by the customer for electronic bill presentation. Thus, that mailpiece is flagged for electronic bill presentment (step <b>350</b>). This may involve sorting the mailpiece into a special bin for expedited delivery to a bill presentment center or may involve redirecting the mailpiece to the normal bin that includes delivery to a bill presentment center. Then, the flagged mailpiece is delivered to the bill presentment center.

0026<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> is a flow chart illustrating another variation of the first aspect. In this case, the customer would specify all mail to be redirected, not just bills from billers. This method is similar to the method illustrated in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>. The process begins by the customer submitting a registration form to the intermediary, along with sample mailpieces used by the biller to send the bills (step <b>410</b>). The form would contain standard information, such as customer name, customer address, customer personal information, email address, types of bills for electronic presentation, and method of electronic presentation. One skilled in the art would realize the form may contain other data used to identify and describe the customer. Plus, in this variation, the form would include instructions for dealing with mail which is not mail flagged for electronic bill presentment. The form may be a standard paper form which may be forwarded to the intermediary, or the form may be an electronic form submitted to the intermediary by electronic means, such as email.

0027Next, the intermediary would enter that customer's information into a database maintained by the intermediary (step <b>420</b>). The database may be a standard database, such as a database stored on a computer. Next, the intermediary images the sample mailpiece for a particular biller which was provided by the customer and stores the imaged mailpiece in the database (step <b>430</b>).

0028Then, when a mailpiece arrives, the intermediary processes the mailpiece and determines the delivery address of the mailpiece (step <b>440</b>). If that mailpiece matches any information contained in the database, the intermediary performs form recognition or optical character recognition (OCR) of the mailpiece (step <b>450</b>). If the mailpiece is not addressed to a customer with information stored in the database, the mailpiece is processed normally (step <b>480</b>).

0029If the mailpiece is determined to match the imaged sample mailpiece contained in the database in step <b>440</b>, the mailpiece is a bill designated by the customer for electronic bill presentation. Thus, that mailpiece is flagged for electronic bill presentment (step <b>460</b>). This may involve sorting the mailpiece into a special bin for expedited delivery to a bill presentment center or may involve redirecting the mailpiece to the normal bin that includes delivery to a bill presentment center. Then, the flagged mailpiece is delivered to the bill presentment center. Additionally, if the mailpiece does not match the imaged sample mailpiece stored in the database, the mailpiece is flagged to be dealt with as specified by the customer (step <b>470</b>).

0030This aspect functions like a mail concierge service. A customer can specify to the intermediary how to deal with all mail addressed to the customer.

0031A second aspect consistent with the present invention involves both the customer and the biller. In this aspect, the customer and the biller, when the customer opts in, use specially marked or encoded mailpieces or address inserts to identify mailpieces to be captured during processing. For example, the marked or encoded mailpieces may include facing identification marks (FIM) marks, POSTNET codes or PLANET™ codes (special bar codes), information based indicia (IBI) marks, or any other recognition marks for OCR pick up or other identification means, such as remote bar codes (RBCS) or a semi-visible barcode on back, or radio frequency ID (RFID) tags. The FIMs, PLANET™ codes, IBIP or other recognition marks may be on the mailpieces or on the insert (e.g., in a window-type mailpiece situation), and may exist jointly or singly. When the mailpiece is received by the intermediary, upon scanning the mark identifying the mailpiece as a piece involved in a bill presentment, that mailpiece would be captured for electronic bill presentment. However, in this aspect, if the identifying mark is present, it is not required that the mailpiece be scanned to determine if it matches a sample mailpiece. Whatever the identification mark, the mark would identify the participating customer and it may also have information identifying redirected mailpiece.

0032<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> illustrates both PLANET™ and POSTNET codes, types of barcodes currently used by the United States Postal Service. In this example, a POSTNET code <b>510</b> is located both in the delivery address window, and at the bottom of the mailpiece. A PLANET™ code <b>520</b> is located in the return address window, in this example. A POSTNET code contains the numerical information that is normally equivalent to a delivery point or delivery address. The PLANET™ code contains an identification mark equating to the 2 digit identification mark which describes the type of information contained in that PLANET™ code.

0033IBI markings are computer readable indicia that may store various information, such as whether a mailpiece is designated for electronic bill presentment, to whom the mailpiece should be redirected, and other delivery or customer information. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 6-8</figref> illustrate various types of IBI markings (see, for example, reference numerals <b>600</b>, <b>700</b>, and <b>800</b>).

0034Other types of codes or markings include RFID and RBC. The RFID is a tag imprinted into the mailpiece that is read by a radio frequency reader. The RFID emits a radio frequency signal which is read by the radio frequency reader. An RBC is a fluorescent bar code normally printed on the back of the mailpiece.

0035<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 9</figref> is a flow chart illustrating a method of capturing mail for electronic bill presentment according to a second aspect. The method begins by the customer submitting a registration form to the intermediary along with sample mailpieces used to send the bill from a particular biller (step <b>910</b>). The form may contain standard information, such as customer name, customer address, customer personal information, email address, types of bills for electronic presentation, and method of electronic presentation. One skilled in the art would realize the form may contain other data used to Identify and describe the customer. Plus, the form may include instructions for dealing with mailpieces which is not mailpieces for electronic bill presentment. The form may be a standard paper form which would be forwarded to the intermediary or the form may be an electronic form submitted to the intermediary by electronic means.

0036Next, the intermediary enters that customers information into a database maintained by the intermediary (step <b>920</b>). The database may be a standard database, such as a database stored on a computer. Next, the intermediary images the sample mailpiece for a particular biller which was provided by the customer and stores the imaged sample mailpiece in the database (step <b>930</b>).

0037Then, the mailpiece is scanned (step <b>940</b>) for special identifying marks. If there are no identification marks, the delivery address of the mailpiece is determined (step <b>970</b>). If it is determined that special identification marks are present, such as POSTNET codes, PLANET™ codes, or RFID (step <b>950</b>), the mailpiece is flagged for electronic bill presentment (step <b>960</b>). This may involve sorting the mailpiece into a special bin for expedited delivery to a bill presentment center or may involve redirecting the mailpiece to the normal bin that includes delivery to a bill presentment center. Then, the flagged mailpiece is delivered to the bill presentment center.

0038If, however, the piece does not have a special identification mark, the intermediary determines if the scanned delivery address is in a database (step <b>970</b>). If not, the mailpiece is processed normally (step <b>990</b>). If the delivery address does match, an image of the mailpiece is obtained, and a comparison is made between the mailpiece image and the image of the sample mailpiece stored in the database (step <b>980</b>). If there is a match (e.g., the mailpiece is a bill), the mailpiece is processed and flagged for electronic bill presentment (step <b>960</b>); otherwise, the mailpiece is processed normally (step <b>990</b>).

0039One variation of the second aspect may allow an mailpiece with one human readable address, plus an identification mark to direct the mailpiece to a different address, such as the bill presentment center. This allows completely automatic mailpiece processing because the bill is directly addressed to the bill presentment center.

0040In both aspects, the bill presentment center is located remotely (or is subcontracted) from the system identifying the bills. Once mailpiece identified as a bill has been flagged and sorted, this mailpiece is transferred to the bill presentment center. Alternatively, the bill presentment center may be located in the same place a the system identifying the bills. This alternative requires identifying the mailpiece locally, keeping the mail locally, and preparing the bills for electronic bill presentment.

0041As for bill presentment, once a mailpiece containing a recognition mark is flagged, or alternatively, when an mailpiece has been recognized, the mailpiece is sorted. Conceivably, at that point, there are several different methods by which the flagged mailpieces may be dealt with. One option is that any of the flagged pieces of mailpieces identified as requiring forwarding to a bill presentment center may be packaged up and physically delivered by express delivery service to the bill presentment center. This is an expedited sortation and delivery method, which would permit the mailpiece to get more quickly to the bill presentment center and allow faster electronic bill presentment. In the intercepting and expedited service, which is only an option for electronic bill presentment, both the biller and the customer would have quicker accessibility to the funds or to the payment opportunity.

0042Another option is for the mailpiece to be sent to the bill presentment center by normal means, that is, placed in the normal mailstream for normal processing. This option is slower than the first option, but less expensive.

0043<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 10</figref> illustrates a system <b>1000</b> located at the intermediary for performing electronic bill presentment determination related to the present invention. The system may function to perform any aspect consistent with the present invention. In system <b>1000</b>, mail is received by the Intermediary and stacked in bin <b>1100</b> to await processing. The mail may be stacked in bin <b>1100</b> by a human or automated means. One by one, each mailpiece, for example, mailpiece <b>1300</b>, is forwarded through the system and passed by scanning system <b>1200</b>. Scanning system <b>1200</b> includes, for example, an optical character recognition (OCR) system, a bar code reader, a camera, a radio frequency reader, or any combination thereof. For example, in the second aspect in which PLANET codes are utilized, scanning system <b>1200</b> would include a bar code reader for reading the PLANET code, an OCR system for determining the delivery address, and a camera for imaging the mailpiece <b>1300</b>.

0044As mailpiece <b>1300</b> passes in front of scanning system <b>1200</b>, information from the scanning system <b>1200</b> is sent to a processing unit <b>1400</b>, which determines if mailpiece <b>1300</b> includes an identification mark. Based on the determination of processing unit <b>1400</b>, and sorting algorithms that are stored in the processing unit <b>1400</b>, mailpiece <b>1300</b> is sent to one of a number of sorting bins, such as <b>1500</b>-<b>1800</b>. For example, if mailpiece <b>130</b> includes an identification mark or the delivery address and mailpiece match stored samples indicating that the mailpiece is for electronic bill presentment, processing unit <b>1400</b> may sort the mailpiece <b>1300</b> into bin <b>1500</b>. From this bin, mailpiece <b>1300</b> may be redirected to an electronic bill presentment center, either through normal processing channels or through an expedited system, as described above.

0045Processing unit <b>1400</b> may be, for example, a computer unit. In this case, processing unit <b>1400</b> may contain standard components for inputting, outputting, manipulating, and storing data. For example, processing unit <b>1400</b> may comprise a central processing unit (CPU), random access bin, mailpiece <b>1300</b> may be redirected to an electronic bill presentment center, either through normal processing channels or through an expedited system, as described above.

0046Processing unit <b>1400</b> may be, for example, a computer unit. In this case, processing unit <b>1400</b> may contain standard components for inputting, outputting, manipulating, and storing data. For example, processing unit <b>1400</b> may comprise a central processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), video card, sound card, magnetic storage devices, optical storage devices, input/output (I/O) terminals, and a network interface card (NIC) (all not shown). Computer unit <b>1412</b> may optionally be connected to a printer (not shown) through the I/O terminals. Examples of the I/O terminals to which the printer may be connected are parallel, serial, universal serial bus, and IEEE 1394.

0047Also, processing unit <b>1400</b> may be connected to the other computing units through a network (not shown). For example, the network may be a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, or wireless network.

0048Processing unit <b>1400</b> is configured to store customer information, retrieve customer information, scan mailpieces for delivery address and identification marks, match mailpieces, and control scanning system <b>1300</b>. The process may be configured in the form of a process created using various programming languages or software suites. For example, the delivery address matching may be a program written in the Java™ programming language, hypertext markup language, or C programming language. Processing unit <b>1400</b> also contains a database for storing customer information and imaged mailpieces. The database may be, for example, a commercially available database or a customized version, programmed in one of the above mentioned computer languages.

0049In the above methods and systems, the intermediary must be able to intercept the bills transmitted from the biller to the customer. The most advantageous example of an intermediary would be a department of a mail service provider, such as the United States Postal Service. In such an example, the service provider would have direct access to the correspondence, i.e., mail transmitted from the biller to the customer. In this case, the biller could send the bill to the customer as normal mail. The customer may register for electronic bill presentment with the mail service provider by providing customer information, such as s delivery address and sample envelope and bill. The mail service provider would then determine if mailpiece was to be flagged for electronic bill presentment during the normal course of mail processing and forward the flagged mail to a electronic bill presentment center.

0050For instance, the mail service provider receives mail at a post office. The mail is routed through a standard sorting machine, such as a Flat Sorting Machine. The sorting machine may be adapted to compare received mail to the delivery address and envelopes stored in a database as described in the first aspect of the present invention. Likewise, the sorting machine may be adapted to scan for facing identification marks and delivery addresses as described in the second aspect consistent with the present invention. The mail is then sorted depending on whether an identification mark is present or if the address and scanned envelope are stored in the database.

0051Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.